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Preseason football. It’s a dress rehearsal with injuries. It’s many questions with few answers. It’s some players fighting for their jobs while other players are fighting to get to the postgame buffet.

The resulting product is a hazy facsimile of NFL football, leaving the fans to wonder what they are actually watching. Are those last season’s smash-mouth 49ers out on the pitch at windy Candlestick? Or is that a watered-down version of the team that stumbled on the brink of the Super Bowl?

Turns out, we got to see a little bit of both. The 49ers’ first teams came out with purpose, displaying trademark toughness. The offense, especially, was bulldozing the visiting Vikings with counters and misdirections. Simply put, the line looked great. Then it was time for a cavalcade of backups, obscuring the value and importance of everyone’s performance.

These games can be tough to watch once the top players retire to the bench, but it’s still possible to learn a few things about this year’s Niners vintage.

Among the hazy half-truths … we think we gleaned:

– Jim Harbaugh has everyone’s attention … again. Despite his endless efforts to put the high-beams on his beloved players, all eyes are still on the 49ers’ mercurial head coach. The man is an inadvertent force of nature. And in case you’re wondering if the high-strung Harbaugh was mellowed by success, think again. He’s in mid-season paranoia, them against the world.

– Colin Kaepernick can fly … but can he throw? We may never find out how well Kaepernick can throw if he doesn’t stop running. On his first series at quarterback, the second-year Nevada man took an option keeper 78 yards for a score. Don’t be surprised to see Kaepernick come in as a change-of-pace guy who can keep those safeties honest with his fast feet. He made a couple of decent throws later in the game, but it’s clear he has a way to go as a pocket passer.

– Kyle Williams can’t catch … a break. The goat of last season’s NFC Championship Game returned to the scene of his great failure, charged with fielding punts yet again. Complicating his efforts was a swirling, 20 mph Candlestick wind. Welcome home, kid. In a show of toughness, he handled three punts flawlessly.

– Randy Moss is on board … for a change. On his first play as a 49er, Moss actually blocked somebody on a short running play to the far side of the field. That’s more than we saw in two seasons in Oakland. Credit Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman for getting Moss’ attention. On his next play, Moss cleared out his side of the field by simply running a fly route. It will be intriguing to see how the creative coaching duo utilize Moss, even when he’s just a decoy.

– Mike Iupati will be an All-Pro … this year. At least he should be. The 49ers’ 331-pound left guard was pulling and trapping beautifully during his brief stint on the field Friday. Keep an eye on the nimble big man, and you should see him shifting and pulling down the line to break open runs for the 49ers stocked stable of running backs. Harbaugh and Roman have had a full offseason to install more of their mysterious Stanford system, which relies heavily on misdirection, shifting and power running. Iupati was born for this.

Al Saracevic is The Chronicle’s Sporting Green editor. You can e-mail him at asaracevic@sfchronicle.com.